Posted on Sep 27, 2022
Top Missouri lawmaker urges federal prosecutors to intervene in Agape abuse case
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House Speaker Rob Vescovo is calling for the U.S. attorney’s office to get involved because he believes local officials ‘either turned a blind eye to, or helped to cover up’ abuse at Agape Boarding School.
Missouri’s highest ranking legislator is asking federal prosecutors to intervene and shut down Agape Boarding School, alleging “undeniable corruption” and “inaction” by local officials who he says “could do the right thing and have consistently chosen not to.”
House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, made his request last Wednesday in a letter to Teresa Moore, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
The Missouri Independent obtained the letter through a request under Missouri’s open records laws.
Stockton-based Agape is a Christian reform school which has faced mounting allegations of physical and sexual abuse by former students.
Missouri’s highest ranking legislator is asking federal prosecutors to intervene and shut down Agape Boarding School, alleging “undeniable corruption” and “inaction” by local officials who he says “could do the right thing and have consistently chosen not to.”
House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, made his request last Wednesday in a letter to Teresa Moore, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
The Missouri Independent obtained the letter through a request under Missouri’s open records laws.
Stockton-based Agape is a Christian reform school which has faced mounting allegations of physical and sexual abuse by former students.
Top Missouri lawmaker urges federal prosecutors to intervene in Agape abuse case
Posted from kcur.org
Religion
Christianity
Sexual Assault
Children
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Separately, the state learned that “two individuals currently listed on the Agapé employee list” had incorporated a new license-exempt residential facility, called Stone of Help, described as a “Home for Troubled Youth” with an address “on the Agapé property and adjacent to the current Agapé Boarding School,” the motion states.
“The state will not allow Agapé to escape accountability or continue to present an immediate health and safety concern to children through corporate shell games while employing the same people and methods that originally led the State to bring this action to protect children,” the state wrote.
Schultz told the state, about Stone of Help, that it was the “first [he] heard of it,” according to the motion, and he provided no further information specific to that development in an interview Friday.
“The state continues to make reckless statements to the press but when it comes to proving their case in court they cannot do it,” he said.
Schultz speculated that the reason the state stayed their order was because they were “not ready to prevail on Monday on the first amended petition.”
Missouri Children’s Division staff will continue to have 24/7 access to the facility, a spokesperson for the Attorney General confirmed Friday.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent, part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence."
..."Separately, the state learned that “two individuals currently listed on the Agapé employee list” had incorporated a new license-exempt residential facility, called Stone of Help, described as a “Home for Troubled Youth” with an address “on the Agapé property and adjacent to the current Agapé Boarding School,” the motion states.
“The state will not allow Agapé to escape accountability or continue to present an immediate health and safety concern to children through corporate shell games while employing the same people and methods that originally led the State to bring this action to protect children,” the state wrote.
Schultz told the state, about Stone of Help, that it was the “first [he] heard of it,” according to the motion, and he provided no further information specific to that development in an interview Friday.
“The state continues to make reckless statements to the press but when it comes to proving their case in court they cannot do it,” he said.
Schultz speculated that the reason the state stayed their order was because they were “not ready to prevail on Monday on the first amended petition.”
Missouri Children’s Division staff will continue to have 24/7 access to the facility, a spokesperson for the Attorney General confirmed Friday.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent, part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence."
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